Ghana e-Waste Country Assessment SBC e-Waste Africa Project March 2011 i AUTHORS Yaw Amoyaw-Osei - Green Advocacy Ghana Obed Opoku Agyekum - Green Advocacy Ghana John A. Pwamang - Environmental Protection Agency, Ghana Esther Mueller - Empa, Switzerland Raphael Fasko - Empa, Switzerland Mathias Schluep - Empa, Switzerland ACKNOWLEDMENTS The Ghana e-Waste Country Assessment was developed in the framework of the project entitled "Building local capacity to address the flow of e-wastes and electrical and electronic products destined for reuse in se- lected African countries and augment the sustainable management of resources through the recovery of ma- terials in e-wastes". The project is funded through the generous support of the European Commission, Nor- way, the United Kingdom, and the Dutch Recyclers Association (NVMP), together with the support of the Secretariat of the Basel Convention which provided an overall coordination to the project. Technical support for the preparation of this document was provided by the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA). Other partners participating in the project include the Basel Convention Coordinating Centre based in Nigeria and the Basel Convention Regional Centre based in Sene- gal, the Institute for Applied Ecology (the Öko Institut), the European Union Network for the Implementa- tion and Enforcement of Environmental Law (IMPEL), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cul- tural Organization (UNESCO), and the Partnership for Action on Computing Equipment (PACE). The contents of the Ghana e-Waste Country Assessment are those of the authors and do not necessarily re- flect the views or policies of the Secretariat of the Basel Convention, UNEP, or the United Nations, nor are they an official record. Information contained in this document has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, therefore neither the Secretariat of the Basel Convention, UNEP, nor the United Nations can be responsible for the absolute correctness or sufficiency of such information. The designations employed and the presentation do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the Basel Convention, UNEP, or the United Nations concerning the status and policies of any commercial or legal entity, the legal status of any country, territory or city or its authority, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries." ii TABLE OF CONTENTS AUTHORS ................................................................................................................................................................II ACKNOWLEDMENTS ................................................................................................................................................II TABLE OF CONTENTS...............................................................................................................................................III LIST OF FIGURES .....................................................................................................................................................VI LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................................................VII ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................................................................................VIII EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................................................X 1.0 INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................1 1.1 BACKGROUND.................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION .................................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 HISTORY OF AGBOGBLOSHIE.................................................................................................................................. 3 1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSESSMENT ........................................................................................................................... 4 2.0 METHODS ...................................................................................................................................................5 2.1 DATA ACQUISITION ............................................................................................................................................. 5 2.1.1 LITERATURE REVIEW AND STATISTICAL DATA ........................................................................................................ 5 2.1.2 MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS............................................................................................................................ 5 2.1.3 SURVEYS....................................................................................................................................................... 5 2.1.4 SAMPLING TECHNIQUES................................................................................................................................... 6 2.1.5 FIELD STUDIES ............................................................................................................................................... 6 2.2 MASSFLOW ASSESSMENTS.................................................................................................................................... 6 2.2.1 IMPORT AND ASSEMBLY................................................................................................................................... 6 2.2.2 CONSUMERS ................................................................................................................................................. 7 2.2.3 REPAIRERS OF EEE........................................................................................................................................ 13 2.2.4 COLLECTION OF (W)EEE................................................................................................................................ 14 2.2.5 RECYCLING OF WEEE.................................................................................................................................... 14 2.3 LIMITATIONS OF THE METHODOLOGY USED ............................................................................................................ 14 3.0 SYSTEM DEFINITION .................................................................................................................................. 15 3.1 GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE....................................................................................................................................... 15 3.2 PRODUCT SCOPE .............................................................................................................................................. 17 3.3 DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS ................................................................................................................................17 3.3.1 THE PEOPLE ................................................................................................................................................ 18 3.3.2 THE ENVIRONMENT ...................................................................................................................................... 18 3.3.3 THE ECONOMY ............................................................................................................................................ 18 3.3.4 STATE AND MARKETS .................................................................................................................................... 18 3.3.5 SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................................. 19 4.0 POLICY AND LEGISLATION.......................................................................................................................... 20 4.1 WEEE RELATED POLICIES AND LEGISLATION ........................................................................................................... 20 4.2 SPECIFIC WEEE MANAGEMENT LEGISLATION ......................................................................................................... 21 4.3 INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK............................................................................................................................... 22 5.0 IMPORTS OF (W)EEE.................................................................................................................................. 24 5.1 OVERVIEW OF STAKEHOLDERS ............................................................................................................................. 24 5.2 FORMAL BUSINESS IMPORTERS AND DISTRIBUTORS .................................................................................................. 25 5.2.1 IMPORT PROCEDURE ..................................................................................................................................... 25 5.2.2 QUALITY OF GOODS ...................................................................................................................................... 25 5.2.3 SALE LOCATIONS .........................................................................................................................................